President Trump is on the attack against James Comey as the former F. B. I. Director begins his book tour.
Beginning tonight with an interview that will be broadcast by ABC News, former F. B. I. Director James Comey kicks off a tour to mark the release of his new book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, which is scheduled to be released next Tuesday. The anticipation of the release of that book and the tour that will accompany it have already set the President and the Administration off with attacks on Comey, but today those attacks shifted up into high gear thanks to a barrage of Sunday morning Tweets from the President:
For the second time in a week, President Trump on Sunday excoriated the former F. B. I. director James B. Comey in a series of tweets after details from Mr. Comey’s tell-all book were leaked before its official release.
In the latest tirade, which unfolded over an hour, the president declared that Mr. Comey “will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!” He mentioned Mr. Comey’s contemporaneous notes of their meetings, calling those memos self-serving and “fake.”
He reiterated that Mr. Comey was a “slime ball,” an insult he lobbed on Friday. He also questioned Mr. Comey’s intelligence twice — first by saying the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails had been handled “stupidly” and then, about 30 minutes later, that Mr. Comey “is not smart!”
Mr. Trump also questioned the integrity of former United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who said in a recent interview with NBC News that she did not discuss Hillary Clinton during her meeting with President Bill Clinton in June 2016 on a plane on an airport tarmac. Mrs. Clinton’s exclusive use of a private email server has long been the subject of controversy and that meeting with Mr. Clinton cast a shadow over the federal investigation.
Ms. Lynch told NBC that Mr. Clinton told a “charming story” about grandchildren and discussed issues of the day, such as Brexit.
Mr. Trump balked at that description, writing on Twitter, “Was she promised a Supreme Court seat, or AG, in order to lay off Hillary. No golf and grandkids talk (give us all a break)!”
The president’s sharp remarks came hours ahead of Mr. Comey’s first major news media appearance since being fired by President Trump last year. Excerpts from the interview, which will air on ABC News on Sunday night, have been shared by the network after details from Mr. Comey’s book leaked on Thursday.
Mr. Comey’s book, “A Higher Loyalty” describes Mr. Trump as “unethical, and untethered to truth” and compared Mr. Trump to a Mafia boss.
Mr. Comey also speculated about Mr. Trump’s refusal to acknowledge Russia’s attempt to influence the election.
“Maybe it was a contrarian streak,” he wrote, “or maybe it was something more complicated that explained his constant equivocation and apologies for Vladimir Putin.”
Mr. Trump and his allies counterattacked on Friday, and Democrats, many of whom blame Mr. Comey for Mrs. Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election, issued a muted defense.
Mr. Trump continued his criticism of Mr. Comey’s book on Sunday, questioning why Mr. Comey hadn’t used the book to address questions such as why “he gave up Classified Information.”
Here are the President’s five tweets about Comey, released over a period of roughly an hour and twenty minutes this morning:
Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15,2018
The big questions in Comey’s badly reviewed book aren’t answered like, how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail), why did the DNC refuse to give Server to the FBI (why didn’t they TAKE it), why the phony memos, McCabe’s $700,000 & more?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15,2018
Comey throws AG Lynch “under the bus!” Why can’t we all find out what happened on the tarmac in the back of the plane with Wild Bill and Lynch? Was she promised a Supreme Court seat, or AG, in order to lay off Hillary. No golf and grandkids talk (give us all a break)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15,2018
I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His “memos” are self serving and FAKE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15,2018
I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His “memos” are self serving and FAKE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15,2018
As The Washington Post notes, there were a number of inaccuracies in Trump’s tweets:
Comey has not been formally accused of disclosing classified information or lying to Congress.
The memos Trump appears to reference are ones that Comey wrote documenting his meetings and phone calls with the president — which have since become public. Comey asked a friend to give some of those memos to the New York Times, but the memos are not thought to contain have classified material. Comey has testified about the memos under oath to Congress. He has alleged that Trump asked him to ease off a probe into fired national security adviser Michael Flynn and wanted complete “loyalty.”
Trump has continued to allege that McCabe was deferential to Hillary Clinton during the FBI’s investigation of her use of a private email server because his wife took donations from a Clinton ally for a state Senate race in Virginia. The accusation is one that McCabe has denied and has never been proved.
McCabe claimed after his firing that he was targeted because he was a witness in Mueller’s probe.
McCabe’s attorney, Michael R. Bromwich, responded Sunday to the president’s claims, tweeting: “1. The book isn’t out so you don’t know what’s in it. 2. The Comey and McCabe memos are very real. 3. The story about ‘McCabe’s $ 700,000’ has been fully explained. . 4. Your strategy of attacking beloved former FBI leaders — not smart.”
The president’s tweet about Comey and Loretta E. Lynch appears to reference a part of the book in which Comey says the then-attorney general was conflicted on the Hillary Clinton investigation because of unspecified classified information that he said he was aware of — and that Lynch wanted him to call the probe a “matter.”
Trump also references a meeting that Bill Clinton — whom he calls “Wild Bill” — and Lynch had on a Phoenix tarmac in July 2016 that was seen as questionable, as Lynch was leading the investigation into Hillary Clinton. There is no proof, however, that Bill Clinton offered Lynch a job or a favor to have her ease off the investigation into his wife. The two said that their planes just happened to be on the same tarmac and that they made casual conversation after Clinton asked to come aboard Lynch’s plane.
Trump also attacked Comey for writing that political considerations may have driven him to reopen the Clinton investigation in the final days of the 2016 election campaign. Comey writes that it is possible “my concern about making her an illegitimate president by concealing the restarted investigation bore greater weight than it would have if the election appeared closer or if Donald Trump were ahead in all polls.”
“Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball!” Trump wrote in one of his tweets.
That admission by Comey has drawn condemnation from others, including former New Jersey governor Chris Christie (R), who worked closely with Comey and has often lavishly praised him.
“It is exactly what they teach you not to do,” Christie said on ABC. “. .. The hubris he shows in that interview is extraordinary to me. Not the guy I worked with or worked for.”
Still, it is unclear why Trump thought reopening the probe into the email server would help Comey get a job with the Clintons.
